


Candles and Cuddles

by Happy_Pappy_Patton



Series: Sanders Sides Ship Oneshots! [7]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, Background Logicality - Freeform, Cuddles, Disney, Fluff, Gay Panic, It's just cute, Jesus just get a carpet, M/M, Meet-Cute, Mentions of Sex, Miscommunication, Misunderstandings, Panic Attacks, Roman is adorable, Swearing, Thunder - Freeform, Virgil is just tired, blackout - Freeform, duh that's the title, falling asleep, inspired by a sharing a bed au but guess who doesn't share a bed, just one misunderstanding after the next, no actual sex just a lot of confusion, self indulgent fic because it's quarantine and I'm touch starved, seriously it's just fluff, virgil is rude but we love him, virgil talks in his sleep
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-28
Updated: 2020-06-28
Packaged: 2021-03-03 20:41:06
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24951748
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Happy_Pappy_Patton/pseuds/Happy_Pappy_Patton
Summary: Virgil is exhausted. The power is out, his heater is broken, and the cute guy who lives above him has a very loud bed life that is not helping his sleep.Finally, he's had enough.Based on the prompt: "Look I'm glad you have a healthy sex life and all but will you please try not to pierce a hole through my ceiling with your bed thanks"
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders/Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders, Logic | Logan Sanders/Morality | Patton Sanders, Logicality, Prinxiety
Series: Sanders Sides Ship Oneshots! [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1746889
Comments: 23
Kudos: 235





	Candles and Cuddles

**Author's Note:**

> Hi sorry for not posting last week but we're alive  
> have some pissed off Virgil and panicked roman because I can  
> leave a comment or a kudo if you liked this and if you didn't like this... sorry? anyway here ya go

Honestly, Virgil was happy that his new neighbour above him had such success in the area of sex. He really was. He just wished the dude would buy a carpet. Seriously, it was like he was trying to pound his bed through the emo’s ceiling. It was really distracting while he was trying to sleep (or, more accurately, scroll through tumblr until he passed out).

It also didn’t help that he’d seen his new neighbour a few times, even talked to him once, and had immediately fallen head over heels for him. Yes, Virgil knew he was being stupid and irrational, and he knew he had absolutely zero chance with the eccentric beauty. But come on, it wasn’t like his years of gay repression and blocking the world out stood a chance against a cute smile and a jean jacket. Not like Virgil had any self respect or self control left.

And so he’d let his noisy neighbour get away with it in the hopes that his poor gay heart would eventually accept that this was all just and unattainable fantasy and get over it. But honestly, it just got annoying. Every night, the sounds cracked at his skull, and every morning he woke up less well rested than before.

Tonight was the final straw. Virgil was finally at his wit’s end with everything in his life. His heater had stopped working, leaving him cold, the thunder outside was getting louder by the second, leaving him scared for his life, and the entire building’s power was out, leaving him in the dark, alone, and with a dead phone. That’s when the banging started again. As if the emo weren’t already incredibly high strung.

Virgil felt pathetic. Here he was on a Friday night, literally hiding in the back of his closet from some stupid storm, unable to call his best friend Patton for help or even consolation, wrapped in a thin blanket he got for 5 bucks at target, listening to his crush go to town on some lucky little so-and-so, and- was that a moan?

 _That’s it_ , Virgil decided. _This bitch needs to be put in his place_. The emo couldn’t control much of his current situation, but he could certainly brave the world for long enough to go upstairs and chew Pretty Boy out. In his state of mind, the storm clouding all of his judgement and the lack of sleep having temporarily disabled his social anxiety, the man upstairs seemed a lot less intimidating, no matter how hot he was. Still shaking quite a bit and pulling his blanket closer around himself, he crept out of his flat and into the silent hall.

All of the racket from above seemed to cease the moment he’d made the decision to leave, but that wasn’t going to stop him. If he didn’t speak up now, who was to say when he’d get the courage to again?

He fumed all the way to the next floor, practicing what he was going to say when he was finally face to face again with the man who’d cost him his sleep for weeks now. God, he was going to go off. He’d utterly humiliate Pretty Boy in front of his little muse until his neighbour had no choice but to apologise every day for the rest of their lives and maybe pay for dinner every night, too. No, scratch that. The guy was too aggravating to like anymore. Who the hell bangs it out every night and doesn’t even have the common decency to even try to soundproof his apartment? Yes, Virgil was going to annihilate him.

Finally, he reached the door labelled 406 and pounded on it hard enough to hurt his own hand. “OY, ASSHOLE!” he shouted, knocking harder. “OPEN UP!” He hadn’t screamed like this in ages, but it felt good. He was finally letting go.

The emo didn’t stop banging on the door until it swung open, and he nearly fell face-first into Pretty Boy’s rock-hard abs. Normally, Virgil would’ve melted at the sight of the guy’s linen shirt, dishevelled hair, and concerned look, but nothing about this was normal, and Virgil was too goddamn pissed to be flustered right now.

Pretty boy went red, and a rush of satisfaction flooded through Virgil. _Yes. Be ashamed. You fucking should be._

“Oh, um, hello there,” the guy stammered, eyes travelling all around the room and, to his shock, up and down the emo. “You live downstairs, right? Um, what are you… that is to say… to what do I owe the pleasure?”

Virgil seethed. If this guy didn’t stop acting all cute and innocent, he was going to punch him. “‘To what do I owe the pleasure’ my ass,” he hissed. “You know exactly why I’m fucking here.”

The guy’s eyes widened, and for a moment, he looked nervous. “I- I’m sure I don’t know what you mean. Forgive me, I don’t think we’ve been properly introduced. I’m Roman. And you are?”

“Don’t change the subject, bitch. How fucking hard is it to buy a fucking carpet, anyway? If you’re gonna fuck around _every fucking night,_ the least you could do is keep it private. I don’t want to hear everything you’ve got going on in here, aight?”

Pretty Boy- Roman- stared at him blankly, roughly the colour of a tomato by now. After a moment’s silence, he choked out, “I’m sorry, what?”

“I _said_ , would it kill you to soundproof your fucking… what do guys like you even call it? Man-Cave? Other people live here, you know!”

It wasn’t until the red started to turn violet that he realised the guy had stopped breathing. “Oh my god,” he groaned. “You are not fucking passing out on me, bitch! I’m not done yet! Come on, in through the nose, out through the mouth, you fucking asshole. I still have plenty to yell at you about, and it’s no fun for me if you’re unconscious for the whole thing!”

Blinking furiously, Roman took a shuddering breath in through his mouth. _The fucking nerve,_ Virgil thought. “Um, why don’t you come inside, Mister, uh…”

“Virgil,” he huffed, stepping through the doorway and scouring the candlelit apartment sourly. “My friends call me Virge. _You_ don’t get to call me anything.”

“Oh-ok, then, m-v-s… um, would you like something to drink? I think we should talk.” He looked positively panicked now, and the emo felt like he’d accomplished something.

“Oh!” he spat. “And now he’s suddenly so hospitable! Don’t you think your little _lady friend_ in the other room is gonna get cold if you leave her alone for too long? Who knows, maybe she’ll finally be able to get some fucking sleep, unlike someone else I know! What was his name again? Oh right, it’s me!”

Realisation dawned on Pretty Boy, and all of the colour drained out of his stupid fucking perfect face. “Ah. You see, uh, that’s where you have it wrong. On all accounts, actually. Why don’t you, um, sit down, and I’ll try to explain.”

Virgil snorted. “So you’re telling me that if I go into your bedroom, which, by the way, could be a fucking amphitheater for the amount of fucking resonance it has, I’m not gonna find some naked girl in there wondering where you are?”

But to his shock, Roman nodded, not missing a beat. “That’s exactly what I’m saying, yes. I don’t know what I did to give you the impression that I’m straight, but I sincerely apologise.”

A day ago, Virgil’s heart would’ve skipped a beat. But no, tonight Virgil’s heart was on strike. It didn’t give a fucking shit about men; it could get plenty of those when the emo was finally fucking asleep.

“Fine then, some naked _guy_ wondering where you are. You think I give a shit about gender? I haven’t slept. In twO FUCKING WEEKS!”

Roman shook his head. “I assure you, there’s no one in here except you and me.”

Virgil narrowed his eyes. “AhA! It’s you and _I,_ bitch. Grammatical errors are a foolproof sign that someone is lying!”

And the bitch actually had the audacity to laugh. It didn’t matter how fucking adorable the sound was, he was fucking laughing! At Virgil! The fucking nerve!

“Easy there, V,” he chuckled, and the emo was just about ready to commit murder. “First off, my friend never shuts up about grammar, so I know for a fact it’s you and _me._ Second, I’m not lying. There really is no one else here, though I think I know why you might’ve thought that. But yes, I am single as a Pringle.”

Virgil rolled his eyes, not letting that small detail get to him. “Then what’s with the constant sex noises, huh, Mr. Forever Alone?”

Roman smiled sheepishly. “Uh, this is my first time living on my own. It’s… kind of stupid, but I bought a mattress, and I was so proud of myself, and it’s so bouncy, and I kind of… can’t stop jumping on it.”

“And the groaning earlier?”

He laughed nervously. “I- uh, fell off and hit my head. It’s fine now, but it hurt in the moment. Sorry.”

Virgil blinked. “You expect me to believe that you’ve been keeping me up this entire time… because you got a good bed to jump on?”

Giggling awkwardly, he replied, “I know it’s weird, but it’s a really good bed. Here, I’ll show you.” Before the emo could protest, Roman grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him down the dark hall and into a large room lit by a giant camping grade lantern.

The bed in the middle of the room was huge, and its owner was right: it did look very bouncy.

“Well, go on,” Pretty Boy prodded, finally releasing Virgil from his evil grasp. “Test it out. See what I mean.”

The emo’s eyes widened. “I am not going to fucking test out your bed! What the hell, dude?”

“What?” Roman asked, staring at him with those stupid innocent eyes. “It’s a good bed, I promise. And you’re right, I really do need to get carpeting in here, but the bed is nice! Do you have something against good beds?”

Virgil glared at the idiot. “Of course not, dumbass, I-”

Just then, a loud crack of thunder echoed through the apartment, shaking the floor just a bit. With a yelp, the emo dropped to the floor, shivering. _Yup. Just what I needed right now. Fucking brilliant._

All of his confidence, all of his anger and fear, all of it shattered back onto him immediately. He felt the tears welling up in his eyes, felt the lump rising in his throat, heard the sob come out before he could push it back in. The thunder continued, and Virgil flinched at each boom, knowing there was no way of calming himself down except waiting it out. He could hardly remember where he was, why he was there, if anyone was with him, but he knew it wasn’t his apartment. He wasn’t safe.

Something dropped into his lap, breaking him out of his thoughts for a moment. Blinking away the tears, he saw a pair of black headphones.

“Noise cancelling,” said a voice. _Roman_ , he remembered. _I’m going to kill him_. He couldn’t quite remember why, though. “My friend is terrified of fireworks. Uses those every Fourth of July. Maybe they’ll help.”

Cautiously, Virgil placed the headphones on his ears. Silence. Sweet, blissful silence. It was the most beautiful thing he hadn’t heard in weeks.

When he looked back up at Roman and saw his flushed but hopeful face, he couldn’t bring himself to a glare. This was unfair.

Virgil grabbed a firm hold of the man’s wrist and pulled him to the ground next to him, wrapping the arm the emo already had control of around his own shaking form. “For the record, I’m still pissed at you,” he mumbled as Roman’s stiff form softened and opened against him, creating a sort of barrier between Virgil and the storm like Patton always did. He felt Roman nod against his shoulder, and fingers started to carefully comb through the emo’s purple hair. He would never admit how good it felt.

 _Focus,_ Virgil chided. _You need to calm down. Five things you can see._ Roman’s stupid shirt, door, bangs, Roman’s annoyingly fitting shirt, the bed that was apparently comfy enough to cost Virgil sleep for so long. _Four things you can feel._ The floor that should have carpet on it, Roman’s stupid comforting fingers in his hair, the soft corner of the bed, Roman’s aggravatingly firm torso. _Three things you can hear._ Nothing, the lack of bedposts clanging against the ceiling, absolutely nothing. _Two things you can smell._ Roman’s potent shampoo and chocolate, for some reason. _One thing you can taste._ The pad Thai he’d had a few hours ago.

Gradually, his breathing started to level out. Roman tapped him lightly on the knee and showed him the weather app on his phone. The storm had passed and wouldn’t be back for another two hours. Virgil cautiously took off his headphones, then shoved Roman off of him.

“I’m not some damsel in distress, Pretty Boy,” he grumbled, too angry and tired to realise he’d accidentally called Roman the nickname he’d assigned him at first glance or to notice Roman’s consequential blush. “And you’re far from a knight in shining armour.”

Roman made a small noise of protest. “I’d like to think of myself more as a Prince Charming, actually,” he mumbled, more to himself than to Virgil.

The emo glared at him. “At least you know your limits. What does the prince ever even do? Kiss sleeping women and forget a girl’s face the second she leaves?”

Roman actually gasped, further confirming his suspicions that the man was unbelievably extra. “I’ll have you know that my brethren have saved many a kingdom from evil dragons and witches and dragon-witches and what have you! We are more than just a pretty face, you know!”

Virgil rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Princey. You’re still an asshole. Now could you just buy a carpet already so I can leave and get some fucking sleep?”

Like the flip of a switch, Roman’s expression faltered. “I- I promise there will be a carpet in here by noon tomorrow. I’m so sorry for keeping you up for so long.”

Virgil frowned. This was what he’d wanted, wasn’t it? Why didn’t it feel good to have an apology? “Stop acting like a kicked puppy,” he growled, but his voice was quickly losing its edge. Stupid genuine remorse. “What’s wrong? Dickwad,” he added for good measure.

Roman kept his eyes fixed on the floor. “Sorry, it’s just… I don’t feel comfortable leaving you alone with such a big storm that’s definitely coming back. Do you at least have someone you can call to come stay with you? I know it’s none of my business, I just… you deserve someone to stay with you.”

Apparently Virgil’s heart had gone off strike, because now it was trying to pound its way out of his chest. He ignored it; it’d caused him nothing but struggle for the past few days. He sighed. “Not that you need to know, but my phone’s dead. Can’t call him.”

The self-proclaimed prince perked up. “Here, use my phone!”

Still glaring half-heartedly at the literal ray of sunshine in front of him, he snatched at the phone, quickly dialing the number.

Patton picked up immediately. “Hello?”

“Hey Pat, it’s Virgil.”

What the emo had to assume was a squeal overloaded the speaker, and Virgil snorted. “Oh my god, Virgil! I’ve been trying your phone for hours! What happened? Are you ok? Where are you?” He saw Roman grin out of the corner of his eye and realised that his friend was speaking loud enough for the entirety of the world to hear.

“Relax, padre, I’m alright. My phone died, I’m using my psycho neighbour’s.” Ignoring the onslaught of offended princey noises™️, he tacked on, “Hey, are you busy?”

Silence. Finally, Patton said, “Kiddo, I am so sorry. The vet called me in late, a few dogs with heart conditions got freaked out by the storm and they need me to help keep everything calm. Will you be okay for three hours? Probably two if I bring Logan with me and use the siren on the vet ambulance.”

Virgil sighed. “I’ll be fine. And yeah, bring the nerd. I could use his help too.”

“Ok, I’m sorry I can’t be there sooner. But hey, I think Lo said his friend just moved into your building. Hey, LoLo, what’s your friend’s name?”

Virgil rolled his eyes as Patton’s voice mixed with the muffled monotone of his boyfriend. “Uh, he says it’s Prince. Roman Prince.”

The emo’s jaw slackened. He turned to the prince, who was grinning stupidly. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

“Language!” the vet screamed. “Oh Jiminy Cricket, I gotta go. Sorry kiddo, see ya in a bit!” The line went dead.

With a groan, Virgil chucked the phone back at Roman, who screeched and fumbled for it. “Of all the people the nerd could’ve befriended, why did it have to be you?”

Roman scrunched his nose, smiling. “Looks like you’re stuck with me, Surly Temple.”

“What did I say about calling me things?”

He chuckled. “Of course. Would you like something to eat? Come on, let’s get off the floor. I have Disney loaded onto my computer if you wanna watch something.”

He got up and extended a hand, but Virgil batted it away. “I can get up by myself, asshole. You better have good food, or else I’m leaving. I don’t care what Patton says.” He really hoped he sounded more convincing than he did in his brain.

“Trust me, babe, I got it all,” Roman laughed. Virgil hissed, trying to push down his blush. He was still angry, still pissed. This was not fucking fair.

“Don’t call me fucking babe,” he squeaked. Roman turned back to him, smiling adorably. STUPIDLY. Yes, stupidly.

“Oh? Would you prefer ‘my love?’ Or maybe ‘darling?’”

“I hate you,” he mumbled. “Fine! Call me Virgil if it’s that fucking hard for you.”

Roman beamed. “Perfect. Follow me, then, my dear Virgil.”

Virgil choked. “Are you serious? Keep it up and I’m going to fucking leave.”

“Oh, are you?”

Shit. He’d lost his bite. “Are we going or not?”

Roman simpered. “Follow me, dearest.”

The couch was smaller than Virgil had thought, and the emo flushed when Roman came in with a big bowl of chocolate covered pretzels and sprawled across the entire thing. “Um,” he said, “are you gonna move?”

Smirking, the prince arched his back to spread even further out. “Oh, do we suddenly have a problem with touching?”

The emo scowled. “I didn’t, but if you’re going to be smart about it…” He plopped down on the floor, tugging his thin blanket closer around himself.

“Aw, come on,” Roman whined. “I was just kidding.” With a small squeak, he adjusted himself on the couch so there was plenty of room for the little ball of rage. “Sit with me. The floor looks really uncomfortable.”

Virgil stuck out his tongue. “I’m gay. The floor is my home turf.” Still, he picked himself up and slid onto the couch, making a point to leave a good few inches of space between himself and the Prince. Which was probably for the best; his anger was wearing away by the second, and he didn’t want to be touching Roman when the rest of his feelings came crashing back in.

Roman, however, seemed to have other plans. He was staring at Virgil with wide eyes, grinning wider than ever before and blushing like a dumbass. “Uh, gay. Yeah. I’m that too.”

Biting his lip, the emo suppressed a laugh. Who the fuck allowed this man to be so adorable? He had to speak to their manager. “Yes, I think you’ve mentioned that, Pretty Boy. What are we watching?”

Roman’s breath hitched, and he spent the next few moments stumbling over incoherent words, not unlike a verbal keysmash. Virgil waited patiently, trying desperately to keep down his own blush.

Finally, the prince calmed down enough to say, “Well, I really only have the older disney movies. Sorry.”

“Why are you apologising? That’s the only thing you’ve done in the past few weeks that I wasn’t going to fight you on.”

He hadn’t known that someone could be this red. “Sorry, you just didn’t seem the type to like classic Disney princesses. You know, the whole cliche ‘Prince Charming’ schtick.”

Virgil raised his eyebrows. “Now where would you get an idea like that? I love Disney. And some of the princes are actually pretty bearable. Depends what you had in mind, though.”

As if it weren’t enough that they were so close to each other, Roman perked up like a golden retriever at his words. And god, maybe the storm wasn’t the only thing threatening the emo’s heart rate now.

“Super!” he exclaimed, then quieter, he added, “...califragilisticexpialidocious. How does Sleeping Beauty sound?”

“Absolutely not. Even if you ignore the fact that he’s like seven years older than her, there’s still the complete lack of consent with sleeping women. Though it’s not the worst thing you could’ve gone with, I guess.”

Roman looked a little bummed, but nodded. “Fair enough. Beauty and the Beast?”

“Stockholm syndrome, plus the prince was like… 11 when the witch cursed him, so actually he was completely right to not let a random stranger in, which makes the whole plot useless.”

“What do you want from me? Fine. The Little Mermaid?” he huffed, not looking very hopeful.

“Ooh,” Virgil hummed. “Actually, yeah. It’s one of my favourites.”

Roman finally grinned. “Me too! Ariel it is!”

By now, his anger had all but completely dissipated, leaving him a mess of anxious, remorseful, unfiltered gay panic. And when Roman’s knee brushed his as the prince leaned forward to set up the movie, he thought he might melt.

“Um, Roman?” he asked once the prince had leaned back and the opening music started playing. Roman turned to him, grinning despite his obvious confusion at the sudden change in tone.

“Yeah? What’s up? Uh, is it too dark in here? I think I have more candles in the closet.”

“No!” Virgil said quickly, really not wanting Roman to leave. “The lights are fine. I just… look, I’m sorry for screaming at you and kind of being a dick. You actually seem pretty nice- I mean, a bit annoying, but nice- and it’s not really fair to just barge in unannounced and start throwing around accusations. Honestly, it’s kind of my fault I’m so tired.”

“No, Virgil, don’t. You were completely in the right. I guess I got so overexcited about finally living alone that I forgot that… well, that other people live here, I guess. Seriously, I’m so sorry about it all, and I hope you get more sleep than a dead man tomorrow. But nothing about this is your fault; if I’d known you were down there, I’d’ve stopped immediately.”

The emo winced. “Yeah, That’s the thing. I should’ve come up here before I got so pissed and just completely exploded. I just kinda…” he trailed off, not sure how much to say.

But Roman was staring at him, silently prodding him to continue. “You promise you won’t judge?” Roman nodded. “Alright, I might, uh, might have had a little bit of a crush on you when you moved in, and I was… well, I guess you could say I wasn’t entirely… not jealous? Anyway, I was really scared of embarrassing myself. You know, I’m a little bit of an anxious mess at times? But it turns out, I just got tired enough that I embarrassed myself anyway, and you actually don’t suck as a human being which somehow makes it worse, and I just-” he sighed. “I’m sorry.”

Roman blinked, breathing heavily. When he finally spoke again, his voice was small and squeaky. “Um, a crush? What- uh, what’s that?”

Virgil’s eyes widened, disbelieving. “You… don’t know?”

Scrunching his eyes closed, Roman shook his head. “God, no. Sorry. I know what a crush is. Duh. But uh, you had one on... me? Why?”

Fighting the urge to hide his face in his hands, Virgil sighed. “Have you looked in the mirror recently?”

Roman bit his lip. “You look cold,” he murmured. “I’m gonna… I’m just gonna go grab some blankets.”

The prince jumped up like a shot and ran out of the room faster than a human should be able to (maybe a gay human could, but not at 10 pm). Virgil slumped back on the couch, feeling shittier than all shit. _Congrats,_ his anxiety seemed to tell him. _You scared him off right when he was actually maybe starting to tolerate you. Congratu-fucking-lations._

But Roman was back almost as quickly as he’d gone, holding an unbelievably large stack of the fluffiest blankets the emo had ever seen. He pulled off the top one, modelled after the Tangled Animated Series, and draped it over the flustered astraphobe. “Tell me if you want more… or less. The rest are a lot thinner.”

“Uh, thanks.” The blanket was unfathomably soft, and Virgil had never been more tired. He felt himself relax, let his eyes droop and then close. Distantly, he felt an arm rest on his side and a soft, warm pillow fall under his head. A girl started to sing, and a strong, beautiful male voice harmonised perfectly with her, making Virgil feel safer than he had in a while.

_I wanna be where the people are…_

Virgil sighed.

_I wanna see…_

Peace at last.

_Wanna see ‘em dancing…_

With a small smile, the emo drifted off into a calm, perfect sleep.

Roman Prince wasn’t one to get tongue-tied. No, this was definitely a first. He’d met guys who’d taken his breath away, sure, but no one had ever managed to make him forget his own name. No one until tonight.

He’d very much noticed Virgil the moment he’d moved in. The guy was seriously hot, and Logan’s boyfriend had told him to look out for him anyway. But holy crap, Patton had not done the beautiful emo justice. Virgil was a perfect violet dahlia, a beautiful flower that should be appreciated and admired. The second the Emo Daydream had said hi, Roman’s heart had flown right out of his chest.

And of course he’d been trying to find a good time to start laying on his endless charm. Just as soon as he was settled in and not completely stressed.

Then, tonight happened. When he’d heard someone screaming at his door, he’d been a little scared. He’d only just finished setting up all of the candles to see in the blackout, and his nerves were more than a bit on edge, not to mention his head was extremely sore and slightly scrambled from the fall. So yeah, you could call his feeling toward opening the door to find what was most likely a madman a little tense.

But then he’d found a tired, pissed off, absolutely drop-dead gorgeous little emo, shivering despite the blanket that was wrapped around him and yelling at the top of his lungs about carpets, and Roman finally understood the full meaning of “too gay to function.”

Romance novels had prepared him for a lot of scenarios, but absolutely none had explained what to do when your crush tells you to keep the sex down, especially when 1. You are a virgin, and 2. Your crush was incredibly shy when you met him. Seriously, you’d think it would be basic textbook stuff.

It was even weirder when he’d finally calmed down and come clean, and the list of things that made Roman fully unable to function just kept getting longer. Anything from the way he seemed to fold in on himself to his constant name calling was already enough to make Roman blush, but when he said he’d also had a crush on the prince? He had to leave just to remember how to speak proper English. It was all he could do not to squeal like a little girl at everything he did.

Desperate for a distraction, Roman focused all of his attention on the movie, Ariel singing in her cave. He mumbled along, letting himself get caught in nostalgia and music like he often did.

Which worked for maybe 30 seconds until he looked down to see Virgil nestling his head into Roman’s side, smiling softly. And suddenly all of the singing was just subconscious as he tried to make the adorable emo as comfortable as he could. God, he was cute.

Roman shifted to the side so he wouldn’t be straining his neck at all, then carefully put an arm around the emo’s small frame. And to think this night had started out so horribly.

He felt absolutely terrible about the sleepless situation he’d put the poor Sleeping Beauty into, and though he would have preferred to get to know him better, he was glad the angel was asleep. After all he’d done, it was the least he could do.

When the emo’s eyes had closed fully, his singing died away. He started to stroke the emo’s soft purple hair.

“Ro,” Virgil murmured, and the prince jumped. But Virgil didn’t open his eyes, and his breathing pattern was steady and slow. Oh my god, he talked in his sleep. This man was too adorable. “Ro, lis’n t’ me. Don’ worry. Igothis.”

Roman chuckled. “Of course, Virge.”

But then the sleeping man’s brow furrowed. The prince had to assume his dream had changed. “Dad, no.”

Now Roman felt like he was intruding on something private. But he couldn’t really go anywhere. He combed his fingers deeper through the emo’s hair, trying hard to soothe him. “It’s ok, V. Dad’s not here.”

“Dad, please. Don’t do this. He’s not Ro, but still…” He curled up closer to Roman. Then, softer, he added, “I love him.”

And just like that, Roman’s heart sunk. Of course someone else had caught Virgil’s eye. Why else would he say ‘had a crush’ in the past tense? The prince had missed his window of opportunity. For all he knew, Virgil had a boyfriend. Crush never had to mean anything beyond a little attracted, after all.

Sighing, he pulled his fingers out of the emo’s hair. He really needed to stop letting his heart fly away on a whim.

Dejectedly, he leaned back on the couch and tried to focus his thoughts on anything but Virgil.

He didn’t quite manage it.

_Roman’s lips tasted like Red Vines. Virgil was wrapped tightly in the other’s arms, and he was all too focused on the feeling of the prince’s tongue against his own to have any sort of idea where he was. Virgil was severely out of breath, but he didn’t care. He felt like he was starving, and Roman was the only cure._

_Suddenly, Roman was ripped away from him. Virgil reached out to pull him back in, but found nothing but empty air. “Ro?” he called, confused. He opened his eyes to see the prince staring at a cloaked figure in terror._

_“Virgil?” he asked. “Help me!”_

_The figure grabbed Roman’s wrist and tugged him further away from the emo. “Not yet he won’t,” he rasped. “You haven’t proven yourself yet.” And with that, his hood, whipped off his head, revealing… Patton?_

_He grinned broadly at Virgil. “Hey, kiddo! How ya doin’?”_

_Virgil breathed a sigh of relief, turning back to the frightened prince. “Ro, listen to me, don’t worry. I’ve got this.” He took a step towards Patton, reaching out for the both of them, but they vanished in a puff of smoke._

_“A-a-ah!” Patton chirped from behind, making Virge whip around. “I’m not sure about this one, Kylo-Friend. I don’t think he’s quite good enough for you.”_

_“Dad,” the emo groaned, stepping forward only to watch them vanish and reappear even farther away, “no.”_

_“Sorry, Virgie. I don’t want you hurt. He’s gonna have to pass all of my boyfriend tests first. The extended version!” He cackled._

_Virgil closed his eyes, already feeling the embarrassment rushing through him. Overprotective Patton™ was going to be the death of him. “Dad, please don’t do this.”_

_Roman’s eyes were wide. “Virge, is he gonna kill me?” he cried._

_Pat only smiled. “Maybe…”_

_Virgil just rolled his eyes. “He’s not, Ro. But still…” he trailed off, not wanting to say what he was thinking in front of Patton. But still, you don’t want to deal with his 4 hour long standardized test._

_Patton frowned. “Hmm, so sarcasm isn’t a strong suit. What do you see in this one? Do you really think he can take care of you? Why him?”_

_“Because!” The emo shouted, suddenly angry. Patton had no right to bad mouth him like that. “I love him!”_

_And just like that, Patton vanished, and Roman was running toward him again, enveloping him in a huge, warm hug. Virgil melted, just happy to have his boyfriend in his arms again._

_“Did you mean it?” Roman whispered, voice shaky. Virgil could only nod._

Knock. Knock. Knock.

Virgil jerked awake, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He could hear the rain pounding on the window, but the whole house was warm and comfy and safe. The emo yawned, burrowing his face further into his pillow.

But then his pillow started to move up and down, and Virgil started to realise that he was sleeping on top of a body.

He yelped, sitting up abruptly and accidentally flinging the body’s arm off of his side. There was another knock at the door, and he flinched. Where was he?

The memories flood back in, muddled between the dream and reality and piecing together the events of the night. Oh god, he’d fallen asleep on Roman. Oh god, he’d _dreamed_ of Roman.

Oh god, Virgil was known for talking in his sleep. Had Roman heard him? Oh no. Oh no, no, no.

A third round of knocks, followed by a voice this time. “Virgil? Virgil!”

Patton. Thank god. He ran to the door, not even glancing back at the snoring prince behind him. He wasn’t sure he could bear the mortification.

He flung the door open the moment a crack of thunder shook the apartment, and he tripped straight into his best friend’s arms.

“Virge? Are you ok? What’s wrong?” Patton asked, not bothering to hide the edge of panic in his voice.

Virgil sniffed, tearing up a bit. “Right as rain. Just really glad you’re here. Let’s go back to my apartment, ok?”

Furrowing his brow, the fatherly man pulled away from the hug. “This isn’t your apartment?”

The emo laughed. “Wrong floor, bud. This is Logan’s friend’s place.”

“Ooh, what’s he like?”

“Um,” he hesitated, stiffening. “Maybe later. Come on, let’s go.”

When Virgil woke up again in his own room, it was after noon. He and Patton had stayed up talking throughout the duration of the storm, gossiping about Logan, who’d driven but had been too tired to stay the night, and, with reluctance, a little bit about Roman as well. Virgil had explained his situation in its entirety, as well as how royally fucked he was (pun fully intended), and Patton had assured him to no end that any friend of his boyfriend’s would have to be rational enough to understand the situation. At which the emo had cracked up, trying to imagine anyone describing the eccentric, Disney obsessed hottie as ‘rational.’

For the second time in 24 hours, he was woken up by a knock at the door. Groggy and hating life, he pulled himself out of bed and threw on a robe without even attempting to fix his hair. He trudged through his apartment without seeing any of it and shoved the door a few times before remembering that it was a pull.

“One sec,” he murmured to no one in particular, then pulled the door open.

Standing in the doorway was an extremely anxious looking Roman holding a bouquet of roses and smiling and scrunching up his nose in the cute way that made Virgil fall for him in the first place.

“Hey, Virgil,” he said.

The emo slammed the door shut again. This was definitely a dream. A dream he was not prepared to deal with.

“Virge?” Roman called, voice muffled through the door. “I just want to talk, ok? Please open up the door?”

Virgil pinched himself. No, this is real. Holy shit, this is real.

“Virgil, come on. Just give me a few minutes. I need to apologise, ok, and then I’ll be out of your hair. Nothing else.”

Apologise? For what? Out of sheer fucking confusion, Virgil grabbed at the handle and swung the door open.

“The fuck?” was all he could say. He mentally slapped himself. What was he doing?

But Roman nodded solemnly as if it made perfect sense. “I know, I’m so sorry for last night. I just want to say that I have carpeting now, I’ll stay out of your way, and I’m sorry for overstepping your boundaries. Oh, and these are for you.” He delicately handed the bouquet to the shocked emo, then nodded. “Right, that’s all I came here for. I’ll leave you alone now.” And he turned to leave without so much as a goodbye.

Virgil grabbed his wrist in a panic. “Ro, wait!” The Prince flinched but stayed put. “What are you talking about? I’m the only one who has any reason to apologise for last night.”

“No, V,” he sighed. “I was acting under false pretences. I wasn’t aware of… certain factors, and it caused me to act rash, and I made you uncomfortable. I know why you wouldn’t touch me, and why you left in the middle of the night.”

The emo froze. Was he that obvious? “You do?”

“Of course I do. And I wish you the best of luck with your crush or boyfriend or… whatever. I’m sorry I came on so strong earlier; I didn’t know.”

“I’m sorry, fucking what?”

Roman finally turned back to face him, pain in his eyes. “You were talking… in your sleep. I heard you mumbling about some guy you loved that you were protecting from your father. Someone who was decidedly not me. And I’m happy for you, I swear, I don’t expect anything from this and I didn’t last night. I just… I thought we might’ve had something. I now see how horribly wrong I was. I’m- I’m sorry, I should go-”

“Like hell you’re going!” Virgil rubbed his temples. It was all coming together, and he could hardly hide his grin. “Oh my god, you’re such an idiot, Roman Prince. Adorable, but a complete fucking idiot.”

The prince rolled his eyes. “If I wanted to be insulted, I’d go on the Internet. Do you have a point, or can I go wallow in self pity and drown myself in hours upon hours of Dirty Dancing?”

“I didn’t give you enough credit. You’re just like a Disney Prince: cute, brave, can’t take a fucking hint…”

“Please get on with it. I don’t need this drawn out anymore than it has to be. What do you mean?”

“It was you, you dumbass. I was dreaming about you! God, I thought you hated me for all of this shit. You think I like someone else? I don’t think I could ever like anyone more than you, Princey.” he whispered, voice hoarse.

And then they were kissing. Roman tasted nothing like Red Vines, but Virgil liked whatever it was so much more.

When they broke away, Virgil chuckled. “You know, I’m not done yelling at you yet,” he murmured.

The prince raised an eyebrow. “Oh?”

“Yup.” He simpered. “How fucking long does it take a guy to ask a bitch out?”

**Author's Note:**

> well that sure was something


End file.
